This book is a history of the role of information in the United States since roughly 1870, when the nation was well on its way to a nearly 150-year period of economic prosperity, technological and ...
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This book is a history of the role of information in the United States since roughly 1870, when the nation was well on its way to a nearly 150-year period of economic prosperity, technological and scientific transformations often collectively called the Second Industrial Revolution, and to a significant role in global affairs. Citizens and their institutions used information extensively as tools in support of the nation’s evolution during these decades. This book does for information what a general diplomatic or economic history of the country accomplishes when telling the story of America. It goes just as far in arguing that information’s role has been a critical component of the work, play, and culture of this nation. This book is a narrative history, a description, a catalog of the American experience. It also departs from the widely accepted concept of knowledge as important in American life. The introduction lays out the case for embracing the concept of information, instead of the more widely used word, knowledge. Looking at information, and not just knowledge, allows us to reveal crucial daily activities of people and organizations. An introduction describes a model demonstrated chronologically and thematically in the next 11 chapters. The last chapter summarizes key findings and implications. This book is designed so that it can be read cover to cover or in bits and pieces. All the Facts draws upon the research of many others, so it can be read as an introduction to what is a broad, extensive topic. It is the first general history of how Americans used information, and serves as a model for how other national information histories could be written.Less

All the Facts : A History of Information in the United States since 1870

James W. Cortada

Published in print: 2016-06-01

This book is a history of the role of information in the United States since roughly 1870, when the nation was well on its way to a nearly 150-year period of economic prosperity, technological and scientific transformations often collectively called the Second Industrial Revolution, and to a significant role in global affairs. Citizens and their institutions used information extensively as tools in support of the nation’s evolution during these decades. This book does for information what a general diplomatic or economic history of the country accomplishes when telling the story of America. It goes just as far in arguing that information’s role has been a critical component of the work, play, and culture of this nation. This book is a narrative history, a description, a catalog of the American experience. It also departs from the widely accepted concept of knowledge as important in American life. The introduction lays out the case for embracing the concept of information, instead of the more widely used word, knowledge. Looking at information, and not just knowledge, allows us to reveal crucial daily activities of people and organizations. An introduction describes a model demonstrated chronologically and thematically in the next 11 chapters. The last chapter summarizes key findings and implications. This book is designed so that it can be read cover to cover or in bits and pieces. All the Facts draws upon the research of many others, so it can be read as an introduction to what is a broad, extensive topic. It is the first general history of how Americans used information, and serves as a model for how other national information histories could be written.

American Opinion on Trade: Preferences without Politics explains how American voters form opinions on trade policy and why those preferences can remain at odds with policy choices of political actors ...
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American Opinion on Trade: Preferences without Politics explains how American voters form opinions on trade policy and why those preferences can remain at odds with policy choices of political actors and parties who depend on their votes. The book shows that Americans weave together distinct and at times countervailing beliefs about trade’s effect on themselves, their communities, and the country. Initial chapters describe gender, race, and community based sources of protectionist sentiment. Later chapters focus on media and campaign portrayals of trade and their influence on Americans’ continued negative perception of the effect of trade on American jobs even as the United States continues to promote policies sustaining globalization. The final chapter discusses the difficulty faced by politicians and parties navigating these diverse and malleable sources of trade sentiment, particularly when encumbered with voting histories supportive of trade liberalization. It identifies party convergence on trade as a source of the diminished salience in American politics and compares the American experience with that of eight other advanced industrial economies. The book concludes by noting the potential for the reemerging influence of trade policy, particularly in light of the return of trade discourse in the 2016 Presidential campaigns.Less

American Opinion on Trade : Preferences without Politics

Alexandra Guisinger

Published in print: 2017-08-31

American Opinion on Trade: Preferences without Politics explains how American voters form opinions on trade policy and why those preferences can remain at odds with policy choices of political actors and parties who depend on their votes. The book shows that Americans weave together distinct and at times countervailing beliefs about trade’s effect on themselves, their communities, and the country. Initial chapters describe gender, race, and community based sources of protectionist sentiment. Later chapters focus on media and campaign portrayals of trade and their influence on Americans’ continued negative perception of the effect of trade on American jobs even as the United States continues to promote policies sustaining globalization. The final chapter discusses the difficulty faced by politicians and parties navigating these diverse and malleable sources of trade sentiment, particularly when encumbered with voting histories supportive of trade liberalization. It identifies party convergence on trade as a source of the diminished salience in American politics and compares the American experience with that of eight other advanced industrial economies. The book concludes by noting the potential for the reemerging influence of trade policy, particularly in light of the return of trade discourse in the 2016 Presidential campaigns.

This book is about fundamental economic theory, but it maintains that economics is meaningless outside the framework of history.It therefore analyses the evolution of some leading economies since the ...
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This book is about fundamental economic theory, but it maintains that economics is meaningless outside the framework of history.It therefore analyses the evolution of some leading economies since the Industrial Revolution.It opens with a critical discussion of some earlier attempts to expound a theory of history, notably, the so‐called ‘new economic history’ or ‘cliometrics’ and then the ideas of two outstanding social scientists—Kondratiev and Schumpeter.They were both concerned with major qualitative as well as quantitative changes in evolving economic systems, with the explanation of such revolutionary transformations and with their periodization.Our book too is concerned with exploring these problems, but it offers deep criticism both of Kondratiev's ‘long wave’ theory and of Schumpeter's attempt to reconcile this theory with the equilibrium models of Walras.Like Keynes, we emphasize some of the limitations of purely econometric models and insist on the great importance of ‘semi‐autonomous’ institutions and subsystems of society, which influence the economy and are influenced by it in a process of mutual interaction and adjustment.Although in recent times the technology subsystem has been extremely dynamic and influential in the evolution of the economy, it is essential to consider also the political, cultural, and science subsystems, all of which have a vital role in achieving that degree of congruence in the social system necessary for successful economic growth.This approach is illustrated in those chapters of the book that are devoted to a historical account of five successive technological revolutions, i.e. water‐powered mechanization, steam‐powered mechanization, electrification, motorization, and computerization.Statistical evidence of the great significance of these technological revolutions for structural change in the economy is found in the changing composition of the leading cohort of the hundred largest firms.Evidence of the social conflicts and tensions engendered by each structural crisis of adjustment is found in the statistics of days lost in strikes, as well as in political conflicts over the regulatory regime and in international markets.Less

As Time Goes By : From the Industrial Revolutions to the Information Revolution

Chris FreemanFrancisco Louçã

Published in print: 2002-03-07

This book is about fundamental economic theory, but it maintains that economics is meaningless outside the framework of history.

It therefore analyses the evolution of some leading economies since the Industrial Revolution.

It opens with a critical discussion of some earlier attempts to expound a theory of history, notably, the so‐called ‘new economic history’ or ‘cliometrics’ and then the ideas of two outstanding social scientists—Kondratiev and Schumpeter.

They were both concerned with major qualitative as well as quantitative changes in evolving economic systems, with the explanation of such revolutionary transformations and with their periodization.

Our book too is concerned with exploring these problems, but it offers deep criticism both of Kondratiev's ‘long wave’ theory and of Schumpeter's attempt to reconcile this theory with the equilibrium models of Walras.

Like Keynes, we emphasize some of the limitations of purely econometric models and insist on the great importance of ‘semi‐autonomous’ institutions and subsystems of society, which influence the economy and are influenced by it in a process of mutual interaction and adjustment.

Although in recent times the technology subsystem has been extremely dynamic and influential in the evolution of the economy, it is essential to consider also the political, cultural, and science subsystems, all of which have a vital role in achieving that degree of congruence in the social system necessary for successful economic growth.

This approach is illustrated in those chapters of the book that are devoted to a historical account of five successive technological revolutions, i.e. water‐powered mechanization, steam‐powered mechanization, electrification, motorization, and computerization.

Statistical evidence of the great significance of these technological revolutions for structural change in the economy is found in the changing composition of the leading cohort of the hundred largest firms.

Evidence of the social conflicts and tensions engendered by each structural crisis of adjustment is found in the statistics of days lost in strikes, as well as in political conflicts over the regulatory regime and in international markets.

This book tells the story of an academic department that underwent rapid, wrenching changes at a time and in a place that one would not have expected them to have occurred. The time was the late ...
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This book tells the story of an academic department that underwent rapid, wrenching changes at a time and in a place that one would not have expected them to have occurred. The time was the late 1960s through the 1970s and the place was a US public university heavily dependent on state funding. The Cold War was raging, the US public was fearful of communism and the Soviet Union, and politicians were speaking to these fears for political ends. And the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was in turmoil. In this environment a significant proportion of that department's visible faculty of traditional economists was rapidly created and, in spite of the anti-Marxist political climate and the dependence of the University on state politicians for funding, quickly replaced by a significant visible group of Marxian economists. The story told covers the particulars of the background for these events relating to the University of Massachusetts, the political activism of the period, and the state of the economics profession. It describes the events themselves in considerable detail, the multi-year turmoil within the Economics Department associated with them, the eventual resolution of that turmoil into an intellectually exciting and friendly atmosphere, the significance of the events in terms of academic endeavor, and their legacy for the economics profession.Less

At the Edge of Camelot : Debating Economics in Turbulent Times

Donald W. Katzner

Published in print: 2011-05-11

This book tells the story of an academic department that underwent rapid, wrenching changes at a time and in a place that one would not have expected them to have occurred. The time was the late 1960s through the 1970s and the place was a US public university heavily dependent on state funding. The Cold War was raging, the US public was fearful of communism and the Soviet Union, and politicians were speaking to these fears for political ends. And the Economics Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst was in turmoil. In this environment a significant proportion of that department's visible faculty of traditional economists was rapidly created and, in spite of the anti-Marxist political climate and the dependence of the University on state politicians for funding, quickly replaced by a significant visible group of Marxian economists. The story told covers the particulars of the background for these events relating to the University of Massachusetts, the political activism of the period, and the state of the economics profession. It describes the events themselves in considerable detail, the multi-year turmoil within the Economics Department associated with them, the eventual resolution of that turmoil into an intellectually exciting and friendly atmosphere, the significance of the events in terms of academic endeavor, and their legacy for the economics profession.

Charles H. Feinstein (ed.)

Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics, Economic History

This collection of 20 studies deals with various aspects of banking, exchange rates, domestic and international financial policy, capital flows, and foreign trade in Europe in the years from 1918 to ...
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This collection of 20 studies deals with various aspects of banking, exchange rates, domestic and international financial policy, capital flows, and foreign trade in Europe in the years from 1918 to 1938. The essays are arranged in three parts. In the first, the major themes are set in a broad international context, and the experience of a large number of European countries and of the USA is brought to bear on the issues considered. Part II is devoted to comparative analyses of specific exchange‐rate policies in the 1920s and 1930s. In each of the chapters, the experience of two broadly comparable countries is examined to throw further light on the causes and consequences of the decisions to change or to defend the prevailing parities. In Part III, the focus narrows again to examine the inter‐war economic history of the banking system in 12 individual countries from all parts of Europe.Less

Banking, Currency, and Finance in Europe Between the Wars

Published in print: 1995-09-28

This collection of 20 studies deals with various aspects of banking, exchange rates, domestic and international financial policy, capital flows, and foreign trade in Europe in the years from 1918 to 1938. The essays are arranged in three parts. In the first, the major themes are set in a broad international context, and the experience of a large number of European countries and of the USA is brought to bear on the issues considered. Part II is devoted to comparative analyses of specific exchange‐rate policies in the 1920s and 1930s. In each of the chapters, the experience of two broadly comparable countries is examined to throw further light on the causes and consequences of the decisions to change or to defend the prevailing parities. In Part III, the focus narrows again to examine the inter‐war economic history of the banking system in 12 individual countries from all parts of Europe.

This book documents the differential contribution of Hewlett Packard’s successive CEOs in sustaining the company’s integral process of “corporate becoming,” an open-ended ongoing process for which ...
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This book documents the differential contribution of Hewlett Packard’s successive CEOs in sustaining the company’s integral process of “corporate becoming,” an open-ended ongoing process for which there is no grand ex ante plan possible and which unfolds through a series of transformations in the course of the strategic evolution of long-lived companies. A comprehensive strategic leadership framework is used to explain the role of the CEO: (1) defining and executing the key tasks of strategic leadership; and (2) developing four key elements of the company’s strategic leadership capability. The book reveals the paradox of corporate becoming, the existential situation facing successive CEOs (which justifies the book’s empathic approach), and the importance of the CEO’s ability to harness the company’s past while also driving its future. Building on these novel insights, the book produces a dynamic theory of strategic leadership that animates an evolutionary framework of corporate becoming. This framework will be helpful for further theory development about strategic leadership and also offers practical tools for founders of new companies and CEOs and boards of directors of existing companies who intend to create, run, or oversee companies built for continued relevance, longevity, and greatness.Less

Becoming Hewlett Packard : Why Strategic Leadership Matters

Robert A. BurgelmanWebb McKinneyPhilip E. Meza

Published in print: 2017-01-26

This book documents the differential contribution of Hewlett Packard’s successive CEOs in sustaining the company’s integral process of “corporate becoming,” an open-ended ongoing process for which there is no grand ex ante plan possible and which unfolds through a series of transformations in the course of the strategic evolution of long-lived companies. A comprehensive strategic leadership framework is used to explain the role of the CEO: (1) defining and executing the key tasks of strategic leadership; and (2) developing four key elements of the company’s strategic leadership capability. The book reveals the paradox of corporate becoming, the existential situation facing successive CEOs (which justifies the book’s empathic approach), and the importance of the CEO’s ability to harness the company’s past while also driving its future. Building on these novel insights, the book produces a dynamic theory of strategic leadership that animates an evolutionary framework of corporate becoming. This framework will be helpful for further theory development about strategic leadership and also offers practical tools for founders of new companies and CEOs and boards of directors of existing companies who intend to create, run, or oversee companies built for continued relevance, longevity, and greatness.

This is a major comparative study of big business in Britain, France and Germany across the twentieth century. It provides an analysis, based on a wealth of empirical data, of the character and ...
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This is a major comparative study of big business in Britain, France and Germany across the twentieth century. It provides an analysis, based on a wealth of empirical data, of the character and performance of the major companies in each country at five benchmark years: 1907, 1927, 1953, 1972 and 1989. Particular attention is given to size, sectoral distribution, profits and profitability, and survival and growth. It also focuses on business leadership, both at professional and social levels. It considers the competence of top businessmen and major aspects of the decision‐making process, and places business elites within the context of social and political developments. It challenges widely held assumptions about, in particular, entrepreneurial failure in Britain, the power of German big business, France's backwardness and modernity, and sociocultural determinants of business performance. It concludes to a clear British advance well into the 1950s and European convergence thereafter, despite the persistence of strong national characteristics of business organization. The latter, however, are unlikely to have had much impact on the performance of each country's leading business enterprises.Less

Big Business : The European Experience in the Twentieth Century

Youssef Cassis

Published in print: 1999-07-22

This is a major comparative study of big business in Britain, France and Germany across the twentieth century. It provides an analysis, based on a wealth of empirical data, of the character and performance of the major companies in each country at five benchmark years: 1907, 1927, 1953, 1972 and 1989. Particular attention is given to size, sectoral distribution, profits and profitability, and survival and growth. It also focuses on business leadership, both at professional and social levels. It considers the competence of top businessmen and major aspects of the decision‐making process, and places business elites within the context of social and political developments. It challenges widely held assumptions about, in particular, entrepreneurial failure in Britain, the power of German big business, France's backwardness and modernity, and sociocultural determinants of business performance. It concludes to a clear British advance well into the 1950s and European convergence thereafter, despite the persistence of strong national characteristics of business organization. The latter, however, are unlikely to have had much impact on the performance of each country's leading business enterprises.

The subject of this book is the course and causes of British economic growth from the middle of the nineteenth century until 1973. The approach is quantitative in that it is heavily statistical while ...
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The subject of this book is the course and causes of British economic growth from the middle of the nineteenth century until 1973. The approach is quantitative in that it is heavily statistical while being well grounded in economic theory. Special emphasis is placed on growth in the period since World War II in comparison with growth in earlier periods. The pattern of growth was U‐shaped: it declined from above 2% a year in the mid‐nineteenth century to zero during World War I and rose again to nearly 3% in the post‐World War II period. The superior performance of the post‐war period is accounted for by faster growth of total factor productivity (TFP), with total factor input growing more slowly despite a historically high rate of investment. The main exogenous factors contributing to the U‐shaped pattern of output and TFP growth are identified. The scope for catching up with technologically more advanced economies increased over time, and they themselves were innovating more rapidly in the post‐war period. Labour attitudes and managerial and entrepreneurial quality worsened in the latter part of the nineteenth century and improved in the twentieth century, partly because of the jolt to institutions administered by the World Wars. Foreign competition, especially in agriculture, and the exhaustion of TFP possibilities in textiles and coal mining also contributed to the decline in growth in the first half of the period. Throughout, and especially in the post‐war period, capital accumulation played a reinforcing role, being influenced by, and in turn contributing to, output and TFP growth.Less

British Economic Growth 1856-1973 : The Post-War Period in Historical Perspective

R. C. O. MatthewsC. H. FeinsteinJ. Odling-Smee

Published in print: 1982-10-28

The subject of this book is the course and causes of British economic growth from the middle of the nineteenth century until 1973. The approach is quantitative in that it is heavily statistical while being well grounded in economic theory. Special emphasis is placed on growth in the period since World War II in comparison with growth in earlier periods. The pattern of growth was U‐shaped: it declined from above 2% a year in the mid‐nineteenth century to zero during World War I and rose again to nearly 3% in the post‐World War II period. The superior performance of the post‐war period is accounted for by faster growth of total factor productivity (TFP), with total factor input growing more slowly despite a historically high rate of investment. The main exogenous factors contributing to the U‐shaped pattern of output and TFP growth are identified. The scope for catching up with technologically more advanced economies increased over time, and they themselves were innovating more rapidly in the post‐war period. Labour attitudes and managerial and entrepreneurial quality worsened in the latter part of the nineteenth century and improved in the twentieth century, partly because of the jolt to institutions administered by the World Wars. Foreign competition, especially in agriculture, and the exhaustion of TFP possibilities in textiles and coal mining also contributed to the decline in growth in the first half of the period. Throughout, and especially in the post‐war period, capital accumulation played a reinforcing role, being influenced by, and in turn contributing to, output and TFP growth.

This book provides a history of British financial crises since the Napoleonic wars. Interest in crises lapsed during the generally benign financial conditions which followed the Second World War, but ...
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This book provides a history of British financial crises since the Napoleonic wars. Interest in crises lapsed during the generally benign financial conditions which followed the Second World War, but the study of banking markets and financial crises has returned to centre stage following the credit crunch of 2007–8 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis. The first two chapters provide an overview of British financial crises from the bank failures of 1825 to the credit crunch of 2007–8. The causes and consequences of individual crises are explained and recurrent features are identified. Subsequent chapters provide more detailed accounts of the railway boom-and-bust and the subsequent financial crisis of 1847, the crisis following the collapse of Overend Gurney in 1866, the dislocation of London’s money market at the outset of the Great War in 1914 and the crisis in 1931 when sterling left the gold standard. Other chapters consider the role of regulation, banks’ capital structures, and the separation of different types of banking activity. The book examines role of the Bank of England as lender of last resort and the successes and failures of crisis management. The scope for reducing the risk of future systemic crises is assessed.Less

British Financial Crises since 1825

Published in print: 2014-10-09

This book provides a history of British financial crises since the Napoleonic wars. Interest in crises lapsed during the generally benign financial conditions which followed the Second World War, but the study of banking markets and financial crises has returned to centre stage following the credit crunch of 2007–8 and the subsequent Eurozone crisis. The first two chapters provide an overview of British financial crises from the bank failures of 1825 to the credit crunch of 2007–8. The causes and consequences of individual crises are explained and recurrent features are identified. Subsequent chapters provide more detailed accounts of the railway boom-and-bust and the subsequent financial crisis of 1847, the crisis following the collapse of Overend Gurney in 1866, the dislocation of London’s money market at the outset of the Great War in 1914 and the crisis in 1931 when sterling left the gold standard. Other chapters consider the role of regulation, banks’ capital structures, and the separation of different types of banking activity. The book examines role of the Bank of England as lender of last resort and the successes and failures of crisis management. The scope for reducing the risk of future systemic crises is assessed.

Manhattan, as the world’s greatest vertical city, is the result of a collective striving; its skyscrapers are the physical manifestation of this mass quest for success. Despite the fact that the ...
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Manhattan, as the world’s greatest vertical city, is the result of a collective striving; its skyscrapers are the physical manifestation of this mass quest for success. Despite the fact that the skyscraper is inherently an economic phenomenon, there is almost no work that chronicles its economic history. This book aims to fill this void by documenting not only the “what” but also the “why,” regarding this important aspect of New York City’s history; in the process this book debunks several misconceptions about the city’s real estate history. Part I lays out the historical and institutional background that established Manhattan’s trajectory before the Skyscraper Revolution at the end of the nineteenth century. The book begins with Manhattan’s natural and geological history and then moves on to how it influenced early land use and neighborhood formation, and how these early decisions eventually impacted the location of skyscrapers. Part II focuses specifically on the economic history of skyscrapers and the skyline, investigating the reasons for their heights, frequency, locations, and shapes. The book discusses why skyscrapers emerged Downtown and why they appeared 3 miles to the north in Midtown, but not in between. The book debunks the common belief that bedrock depths were important determinants of skyscraper locations. It discusses the cause of the building boom during the Roaring Twenties. The last chapter investigates the value of Manhattan and the relationship between skyscrapers and land prices. Finally, an Epilogue offers policy recommendations for a resilient and robust future skyline.Less

Building the Skyline : The Birth and Growth of Manhattan's Skyscrapers

Jason M. Barr

Published in print: 2016-07-01

Manhattan, as the world’s greatest vertical city, is the result of a collective striving; its skyscrapers are the physical manifestation of this mass quest for success. Despite the fact that the skyscraper is inherently an economic phenomenon, there is almost no work that chronicles its economic history. This book aims to fill this void by documenting not only the “what” but also the “why,” regarding this important aspect of New York City’s history; in the process this book debunks several misconceptions about the city’s real estate history. Part I lays out the historical and institutional background that established Manhattan’s trajectory before the Skyscraper Revolution at the end of the nineteenth century. The book begins with Manhattan’s natural and geological history and then moves on to how it influenced early land use and neighborhood formation, and how these early decisions eventually impacted the location of skyscrapers. Part II focuses specifically on the economic history of skyscrapers and the skyline, investigating the reasons for their heights, frequency, locations, and shapes. The book discusses why skyscrapers emerged Downtown and why they appeared 3 miles to the north in Midtown, but not in between. The book debunks the common belief that bedrock depths were important determinants of skyscraper locations. It discusses the cause of the building boom during the Roaring Twenties. The last chapter investigates the value of Manhattan and the relationship between skyscrapers and land prices. Finally, an Epilogue offers policy recommendations for a resilient and robust future skyline.

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